Tennessee
clinched a berth in the 2014 SEC Tournament with a 7-5 victory over Florida on Saturday
afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The
No. 13 Gators (37-19/21-9 SEC) had claimed the first two games of the series to
secure the outright SEC Championship and were bidding for their first sweep in
Knoxville since 1992 against the Vols (31-22/12-18 SEC).

Tennessee
rallied from three different deficits and used a three-run fifth to punch their
ticket to Hoover for the first time since 2007. Sophomore Andy Cox (5-1)
yielded seven hits and five runs over seven innings to earn the win, with sophomore
Andrew Lee working out of a jam in the ninth to collect his fourth save.

Junior
Taylor Gushue (3-for-4, three RBI) broke the ice with a homer to start
the second inning to left field. It was his team-best sixth big fly of the
year.

UT
evened the contest in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by sophomore
A.J. Simcox (2-for-3, two RBI). The Vols later had the bases loaded with two
down and sophomore starter Danny Young used a fielder’s choice to escape
the jam.

After
junior Josh Tobias moved UF back in front with a round-tripper to left
leading off the third inning, Tennessee answered with three runs on three hits
to grab a 4-2 advantage. Freshman Nick Senzel tied the game with an RBI single
into center field, sophomore Vincent Jackson (2-for-4) moved the hosts ahead
with a base-hit through the right side and junior Tyler Schultz walked with the
bases full. Freshman Shaun Anderson (0-2) replaced Young (2.1 IP, 6 H, 4
R) and induced an inning-ending double play.

Florida
plated three runs with two down in the fifth on a RBI double by sophomore Richie
Martin and a two-run double by Gushue to re-claim the lead at 5-4. Martin
drove in Tobias, who had walked and stolen second and third. After sophomore Harrison
Bader legged out an infield single for runners on the corners, Gushue roped
his team-leading 16th double down the left-field line to clear the bags.

The
Vols answered with three runs in the home part of the inning to take a 7-5
lead. Simcox tied the game with an RBI single and sophomore Derek Lance put the
hosts on top with a base-knock through the right side. Freshman Tyler Deel
came in for Anderson (2.0 IP, 4 H 3 R) and yielded a sacrifice fly to junior
Will Maddox that wrapped up the scoring.

Game Notes

·Florida
was foiled in its bid to equal the 2010 and 2011 SEC Championship squads with a
22-8 league record.

·The
Gators were trying to sweep Tennessee at Lindsey Nelson Stadium for the first
time since 1992.

·UF’s
eight-game road winning streak was snapped, tied for the second-longest in
school history.

·Taylor
Gushue’s
team-leading sixth home run in the second inning was his first since May 4 at
Alabama. Josh Tobias followed with a homer the next inning for his
second dinger of 2014 and first since March 18 against Florida State.

·Gushue
finished SEC action with a .389 batting average and was 7-for-11 (.636) in the
series with four RBI and three doubles.

·Tobias
had his first two stolen bases of the year in the fifth inning, when he swiped
second and third before scoring on a double by Richie Martin.

·Danny
Young made
his eighth start of the year, fifth in SEC play.

·Florida
used a total of eight pitchers this afternoon and the teams combined for five
errors (three by the Gators, two by the Vols).

·Mike
Fahrman
made his first start at catcher and Jason Lombardozzi had his first
start at second base for Florida.

Up
Next

The
Gators begin play at the 2014 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., on Wednesday at
5:30 p.m. The contest can be heard on the Gator IMG Sports Network with Jeff
Cardozo and Mick Hubert.

Follow
the Gators

Live
stats for each game are available on GatorZone.com and fans can also
receive updates of each game on @GatorZoneBB, the official Twitter account of
the Gator baseball team.